


i hope you make it to the day you're 28 years old

by erce3



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/F, Trans Ted Tonks, everyones gay, tw for implied death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-09
Packaged: 2018-09-15 21:22:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9257882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erce3/pseuds/erce3
Summary: There’s this woman, in tattered clothing indicating she worked here, and she’s looking right at them. She's got blood around her mouth and Lily can't place her expression except for hunger, like she wants to devour Lily whole, like she hasn't eaten in weeks, months.“Run,” Lily hisses. “Run!”And the woman is coming after them, fast, and they have, like, ten shopping bags, and Narcissa is grabbing her arm and they’re running, because they’re not going to die, not yet.





	

Lucius doesn’t show up to their date. He sends a quick, _stuck at the office, sorry babe_ over text, and Narcissa almost feels upset. It feels more like she’s trying to convince herself she’s upset.

She texts back, _should i wait for you?_

He responds, _no._

Well then, she thinks.

She orders the most disgusting, expensive thing on the menu just to spite him, something he’d frown at and say, _Narcissa, darling, don’t you want to watch your figure_ , or, just as likely, _don’t you want something cheaper_?

Cheapskate Malfoys. She can’t believe she’s dating him.

The waiter stands there, a smile plastered on his face, as she scans over their alcoholic beverages. “What’s good?” she asks, though she already knows exactly what she wants.

He opens his mouth to respond, and then the glass front door shatters.

/

And then:

Narcissa is underneath a table with a redhead. She’s not sure whether or not to be angry with her, since she was just dragged under a table. Then again, she’s also pretty sure her server just got _eaten_ , so.

Maybe manners aren’t the most important thing right now.

“We have to get out of here,” says the redhead.

Narcissa thinks, _I don’t even know your name_. She says, “I came in an Uber, so, uh.”

The girl rolls her eyes. “I have a car.” And then she’s getting up, which is frankly stupid, and Narcissa watches her legs for half a second, in like, awe–not in a _lesbian_ way, though, because she has a boyfriend, but in _appreciation_ , and then, against her better judgement, follows her.

Neither of them, it seems, are the type of people to go in with plans. They just run in the direction of the exit, and when the person–thing?–turns his head to lumber towards him, with this _hunger_ in his eyes that makes Narcissa want to vomit, the redhead grabs Narcissa’s wrist and pulls her out of the cafe.

“ _Shit_ ,” says the readhead. “We’re _so_ fucked.”

Narcissa isn’t the type to swear, so she just nods her head solemnly in agreement.

They get into the redhead’s car and the redhead presses the gas, hard, like she isn’t afraid of a speeding ticket. Like she isn’t totally freaked out. Narcissa doesn’t even think about being kidnapped, about not knowing where they were headed, just leaving the cafe behind, thankful they’re going so fast, anyway.

“Zombies,” breathes Narcissa after a long pause. “Of all the ways for today to go.”

The redhead laughs. “I know, right?” she says, but it’s more sad than it is lighthearted.

/ /

It turns out the blonde is called Narcissa. “Like the myth?” says Lily.

The girl is kind of drop-dead gorgeous, in these designer clothes that were probably, like, tailored for her figure. She purses her lips and shakes her head. “Like the flower,” Narcissa says, finally.

“Flower pals,” says Lily, and regrets it the moment it comes out of her mouth, because, really, Lily? Are you _five_?

But the blonde–Narcissa–laughs. Narcissa pauses, then, and opens her purse, which probably costs more than everything Lily owns, combined, and a mirror and some lipstick and starts to apply it.

Which is, like, _weird_ , but Lily doesn’t exactly blame Narcissa for weird coping tactics. She’s kind of numb right now, but she knows some sort of existential crisis is going to hit her in a few hours.

Lily pulls out her phone, one hand still on the steering wheel. “Um, hey, do you have anyone to call?” she says, slowly. “Family?”

Narcissa’s eyes are still on her pocket mirror. “No,” she says distantly, puckering her lips. “Wait.” She flicks her gaze up to Lily. “Maybe. I suppose I should text my boyfriend.”

Lily doesn’t want to ask.  
“You should call him,” she says, “in case there’s more.”

“Hm,” says Narcissa. And then, quieter, “Where are we going?”

“Um.” She finds, all of a sudden, she doesn’t have an answer. “Have any suggestions?”

Narcissa pauses, nods. “Let me give you an address.”

/ /

While they’re driving, Narcissa takes the time to admire Lily. She’s got a crease in her forehead like she’s concentrating too hard, but she’s _pretty_.

She pulls out her phone and texts her mother, _is everything alright for you_ and then does some quick googling to figure out what’s going on. Lily glances over to see her on google, and says, “Well?”

“Well,” says Narcissa, “it’s happening everywhere.”

Lily frowns. “Fuck,” she says.

The thing is–Narcissa can’t quite bring herself to agree. Sure, the world’s ending and all that, but her world was never any good in the first place. Driving with a pretty girl to a hotel? It feels a little more like a blessing than a curse.

Her phone chimes.

Narcissa glances down.

 

 **lucius <3 <3**: babe everything alright?

 **lucius <3 <3**: i heard about it on the news are you safe?

 **narcissa** : i believe nearly dying means that, no, i am not safe.

 

“Should I break up with him?” she asks, even though she _knows_ she shouldn’t, and she just met Lily, but she kind of has never loved the guy and he’s kind of an asshole, so.

“Do you love him?” is Lily’s response. She doesn’t bother with anything else.

Narcissa thinks about it. The world is ending. Does she really need someone else to look after? She doesn’t answer Lily’s question. She isn’t sure if she can bring herself to.

 

 **lucius <3 <3**: stay right where you are im coming to get you

 **narcissa** : actually, i would not like to see your face again.

 **narcissa** : i am also no longer at the cafe, seeing if i was, i would be dead.

 

He doesn’t respond, after that.

/

Three hours after they settle into their hotel room, Lily mentions, kind of slowly, “When you gave me an address, I sort of expected to go to a house, or something. Not check into a hotel.”

Narcissa shrugs. She doesn’t have an answer, really, as to why they didn’t go to her apartment.

They fall silent.

“Seriously, though,” says Lily. “We need a plan.”

“Don’t you have family?” asks Narcissa. She isn’t exactly sure how to feel about the _we_ , but something about the whole _she-just-saved-my-life_ deal refrains her from making a comment. Or maybe what stops her is that she likes being a _we_. Maybe.

“Not here. I texted my sister, though.”

“Is she alright?” Narcissa isn’t sure why she cares, either, why she wants Lily to be happy. They met, like, three hours ago, so. Narcissa shouldn’t be attached.

But she _is_.

“Yeah. We don’t get along, though, so, um. I don’t think she actually cares that I’m alive.”

“Oh.”

And then it hits her, hard. An _option_ , somewhere to go. “I, uh.” She pauses. “I have a sister who lives in the middle of nowhere, on a farm. We don’t talk much, but.”

Lily looks at her, and practically _beams_.

She can’t bring herself to say the rest. Lily’s smile is kind of everything in that moment, in every moment. All she wants in the world, for once, is for Lily to keep smiling.

She smiles back.

/ /

Narcissa mentions, tentatively, to get some clothes and a suitcase before they left. They’d slept in their clothes, and Lily’s has a couple blood stains at this point, which makes her sick _thinking_ about, even though she had showered, like, seven different times last night.

Lily nods.

It turns out to be a little more difficult than _shopping_ , because the mall is deserted and Lily doesn’t want to _steal_ clothes. “It’s immoral!” she explains to Narcissa.

Narcissa says, “Look at it this way: money isn’t relevant anymore.”

Lily gets distracted by the way her eyebrows cock–she’s pretty sure Narcissa doesn’t do them, because when she got up this morning Narcissa hadn’t done anything to them, but it’s not important because they’re still somehow perfect.

“It’d just be a waste to leave them here,” continues Narcissa.

“Alright,” says Lily, not quite convinced, and they enter the mall.

/

It feels a little like they’re on holiday, or like some gay fantasy she’d had when she was in high school. Mall, and then running away. They steal some food from the foodcourt–day-old sandwiches–and they get, like, _bags_ of stuff.

Lily discovers Narcissa looks good in, like, everything.

After some wheedling, Narcissa also convinces her to get non-practical clothing items, like bralettes and dresses.

Her mouth dries up when Narcissa asks her opinion on some clothes. “You’re _so_ pretty,” Lily finds herself saying.

Narcissa laughs. “So are you,” she says. “Your legs are to _die_ for.”

The easiness they find shopping–stealing, really–makes Lily wonder why Narcissa hasn’t really expressed any concern for anyone. Why she took a disaster as a sign to break ties with her boyfriend and why she’s okay with just being with Lily.

Lily wonders if Narcissa is curious about the same thing for her.

And then–Lily’s phone _dies_ . “Fuck,” she whispers. “ _Fuck_.” Because, here’s the thing: they can’t charge it. It’s honest-to-God dead.

Narcissa offers to let Lily borrow her on phone–on ten percent–and Lily sighs. “No, no,” she says. “It’s okay. I have an idea. We should grab all the portable chargers.”

And Narcissa just watches her and _smiles_.

All Lily can think is, how did she fall for Narcissa so quickly?

/

So they’re grabbing these portable chargers, all of them, in the back, on the shelves, and suddenly Narcissa clasps a hand over her mouth, eyes wide. “Wha–” Lily starts to say, and Narcissa shushes her violently, and points.

Her heart sinks.

Because she’d sort of almost forgotten that they were in the apocalypse. But there’s this woman, in tattered clothing indicating she worked here, and she’s looking right at them. She's got blood around her mouth and Lily can't place her expression except for hunger, like she wants to devour Lily whole, like she hasn't eaten in weeks, months.

“Run,” Lily hisses. “Run!”

And the woman is coming after them, _fast_ , and they have, like, ten shopping bags, and Narcissa is grabbing her arm and they’re running, because they’re not going to die, not yet.

By the time they’re at Lily’s cherry red prius, the woman is right there behind them.

She starts the engine. The woman claws at the windows. Narcissa yells, “Go!”

And when they do, the woman trips over and there’s this _bump_ and Lily’s pretty sure they ran part of her over.

“Fuck,” says Lily.

Narcissa sighs. “I know.”

/ /

So they take off, and then Lily says, “Wait. _Fuck_. How are we going to eat?”

Narcissa smiles. “I grabbed all the non-perishable items I could find. Plus, we can stop by gas stations on the way over.”

Lily stares at her. “Oh my god, you’re a genius.”

Lily’s kind of amazing, thinks Narcissa. She’s smiling at _her_ and her insides are melting and she knows what this means, because this is the way you’re supposed to feel about your _boyfriend_ , but Lily’s a girl and in this moment, Narcissa doesn’t feel gross about it.

She blushes instead.

“So,” says Lily, apparently bad with silence. “You haven’t said anything about your family. Or anything, really. We’ve both just nearly died, twice, so. Maybe we should get to know each other?”

Narcissa purses her lips. “My family?”

Lily shrugs. “We are going to your sister, so.”

“Well. I’m the youngest of three,” starts Narcissa, slowly. She doesn’t want to share much, but she figures that Andromeda’s going to tell Lily anyways, so maybe it’s better to say it herself. “From a wealthy, conservative family.”

Lily takes her eyes off the road for a pause to watch Narcissa. She nods, encouragingly, and Narcissa’s heart jumps.

“None of us quite turned out like my mother wanted. My oldest sister went to rehab twice, and afterwards joined some sort of white supremacy cult. I’m still not sure if my mother supports her. Andy, the one we’re going to see, is actually fine. She married a trans guy, though, so my mother flipped. Haven’t been able to contact her since.”

Narcissa closes her eyes. She expects Lily to order her out of the car, or something, and she feels like dirt, remembering her mother.

“You’re fine,” says Lily, after a while, “though.”

Narcissa opens her eyes to see Lily watching her. Studying her, maybe. “Well,” says Narcissa, “I’m so far in the closet, she thinks I’m fine.”

She’s never actually come out to anyone. She’s known for a while, maybe, that she’s a–she’s _gay_ , but she’s never really been able to say it. Her heart hammers.

Lily grins.

“That makes two of us.” Lily pauses. “Well. I’m not in the closet, but _queer_. I’m bi.”

Narcissa lets out a relieved sigh. “Oh,” she says. Smiles. “Okay.”

They fall silent for a bit, and then Lily says, “I texted my family and friends last night.”

“Where are they?” asks Narcissa, before she can help herself. After all, she’s just spilled to a girl she’s known for _two days_ –not exactly her style. Lily smiles, though, and turns her eyes back to the road.  
At this point, the city is fading into the distance, and it’s turning into farmland.

“I moved from up north, to go to uni,” says Lily. “All my friends are still there. I was only, like, a week into uni, so I didn’t know anybody yet. So, I had to make sure, y’know, they were safe. That no one was dead.”

Narcissa watches her. Lily sighs and adds, “There was this huge conservative movement when I was in high school. Like, bullying queer kids and then someone got _killed_ , his name was Regulus, he was trying to protect his brother. My old best friend turned out to be a douche. I got outed, I left. I wanted–” she paused, sighed. “I wanted to take a breather and be able to come back and _forgive_ everyone.”

“Oh,” says Narcissa. “I’m sorry.”

Lily shrugs. “Not your fault. Anyways, I called them. Everyone’s okay, mostly. Maybe in a little bit, when all this calms down, I’ll go back and see them.”

Narcissa feels her stomach sink. Without her, Lily had implied. Like they’re just going to drop Narcissa off with Andromeda and then Lily’s going to leave.

“Maybe we could set something up with Ted and Andromeda,” says Narcissa. “Maybe they could come to us.”

“I don’t think the phone service is going to work for much longer,” says Lily.

Which means: Lily’s going to leave.

Narcissa swallows something. No use in arguing, she thinks. “Oh,” she says. “Okay.”

/

They get to the farm and Andromeda almost slams the door in Narcissa’s face. Lily turns back and mentions she’ll wait in the car, which Narcissa doesn’t disagree with. She watches her go and then turns to Andromeda, feeling guilty.

“Hi, Andy,” says Narcissa. “The world is ending, so I thought I better apologize.”

Andromeda looks tired, older. She’s smiling, though, tanned, freckled, _happy_. It’s a look Narcissa hardly recognizes on any Black sister. “Hi, Cissy,” she says. She doesn’t take her apology.

“I wanted–” Narcissa swallows something. “I wanted to let you know that if I had talked to you, I would have been–”

“Cast out, I know,” interrupts Andromeda. She sighs. “Look, I’m not here to argue. I get it. You fucked up. And now that you don’t have a place to go, you are forced to recognize you fucked up.”

“Maybe,” says Narcissa, “But, please. I’m sorry I didn’t help you. I–I couldn’t.”

Andromeda raises an eyebrow. “Couldn’t?”

“I have my own issues, Andy. I can’t–I want–please, give me a second chance.”

And, for some reason, Andromeda opens the door.

/ /

The Tonks are very nice, thinks Lily. But she keeps thinking about Alice and Marlene and Sirius and Remus and everyone back home. And she can’t bring herself to leave them behind, so.

So, she decides to leave and find them.

She explains to Andromeda that she’ll be out of her hair soon enough, and meets Ted, who’s very civil and oddly passionate about farming. They tell her that she and whatever friends she has left are welcome back. Andromeda seems to know about Lily’s crush on Narcissa, because she winks.

She smiles, thanks them. Everything’s going to work out, she thinks.

Except, she can’t help but feel like shit, leaving behind Narcissa.

But this is Narcissa’s _family_. She can’t just take her away.

Against her better judgement, Lily offers, anyways.

“Come with me.”

Narcissa looks up at her, pauses. “I–what?”

“Please. Help me find my sister, my friends. And then, we’ll come back, right? Build some more houses along the farmland and like, live off the land or something cheesy like that. _Please_ , come with me.”

And Narcissa, she cocks her head, pauses. “Okay,” she says, slowly. “I can’t just let you go alone.”

“Okay,” says Lily.

And then she does something really stupid–she kisses Narcissa.

And Narcissa? She does something really unexpected. She kisses _back /em >._

/ /

They do come back, a year later. They’ve ditched Lily’s old cherry red car, and a white van pulls up to the Tonks’ farm. The first one out is Lily, who’s got a scar running down her arm and a couple on her cheeks, and behind her is Narcissa, holding her hand. Lily’s got a baseball bat slung over her shoulders; Narcissa has a knife.

They’re _different_.

Andromeda welcomes them in, with their friends, too. There’s not a lot of them; most of them died, explains Lily in a tired voice. She tries to learn their names: Sirius, Remus, James. Petunia. A couple others, too, whose names she forgets almost immediately.

“It’s going to be okay,” says Andromeda. “You’re home, now.”

Narcissa turns to Lily, smiles.

“We’re home,” she repeats.

Lily laughs. “You’re home,” she says, and Narcissa pushes her. “You’re _my_ home.”

“Stop being so cheesy.”

Andromeda watches them, smiles. Narcissa’s hair is grimy, lips chapped. Lily looks tired, beat up. The end of the world took almost everything from them, she thinks, but it couldn’t take this.

“I love you,” says Lily, eventually.

“Hm,” says Narcissa. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> yay come talk to me @nooreva on tumblr abt femslash


End file.
